Soccer Headline

Sunday September 15, 2013No. 9 Florida soccer ties USF 1-1 2OT Sunday

The
No. 9 Florida soccer team tied South Florida 1-1 2OT Sunday evening at the
Corbett Soccer Stadium. It was the first overtime match for the Gators this
season and the third for the Bulls.

The Gators found themselves trailing early
when USF senior Sharla Passariello slid to touch Sarah Miller’s end line pass
to score in the sixth minute.

Despite many good looks at the goal, it took
until the 74th minute for the Gators to find the equalizer. From
deep in the USF half, sophomore Claire
Falknor sent a cross that skimmed through the traffic in front the goal
mouth to find junior Havana
Solaun waiting just above the far post. Solaun’s shot scored from six
yards to knot the score at 1-all.

Tonight’s match ended the Gators’
non-conference slate as they open defense of their Southeastern Conference
title Friday with a home contest versus Alabama.

GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:

·Solaun’s
goal was her fourth of the season – a total which stands second among the 2013
Gators.

“This
is the first time we’ve chased a game and got the equalizer this season. I
thought we kept knocking at their door. Their keeper did a good job of keeping
us out of the back of the net.

“I
was really proud of the way we played tonight. To get down early and to come
back to get the equalizer was a huge character test for us. I think we kept
knocking at the door and couldn’t get the go-ahead goal, but it certainly wasn’t
from a lack of trying.

“I
think it was an unfortunate tie for us because of the amount of opportunities
that we had.”- UF coach Becky Burleigh

On
the goal-scoring play:

“It
was a great ball in by Claire. We were playing pretty high risk with both of
our outside backs and sending them at the same time to try to get numbers in
the box. She served a real quality ball in and Havana was inside the six and
put it away.” – UF coach Becky Burleigh

On
Taylor Burkes’ save in overtime:

“The
save she made at the end was a pretty big deal because we were a bit
discombobulated defensively and they got a good look, but she made the save.
Other than that she didn’t have that much to do, but I liked that she kept her
focus.” – UF coach Becky Burleigh

On
her goal:

“Claire
did a great job working it down the line. Everyone already in the box pretty
much set it up for me. There was run near post which drew all their defenders.
The ball went straight across the goal. Caroline (Triglia) said ‘I thought
about hitting it, but I stopped and let it go through my legs.’ Had she not
have done that, we wouldn’t have scored.” – junior midfielder Havana Solaun.

About
Gators’ performance tonight:

“I
think we played with a lot of heart. We laid it all on the field tonight. I
think we should have finished some opportunities but I couldn’t have asked for
more fight from this team.” – junior midfielder Havana Solaun.

UP NEXT:

The Gators open conference play
Friday, Sept. 20 when Alabama (2-5, 0-0 SEC) comes to Gainesville.
Match time is set for 7 p.m. at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The Tide defeated
Alabama-Birmingham 1-0 Sunday evening in
Tuscaloosa, Ala.